Chocolate Shortbread Cookies

Cocoa was first enjoyed 3,500 years ago by the Olmecs, an indigenous tribe located in modern-day Central America. They documented drinking cocoa by engraving images.

The earliest record of chocolate in North America is from St. Augustine, Florida, where the Spanish ship, Nuestra Senora del Rosario del Carmen, was forced to make port. The ship was carrying beans, chocolate, and chocolate-making equipment.

In the 1700s, chocolate was made by hand in the colonies. Cocoa beans and spices were ground and blended, mixed with water, and made into a warm beverage.

Amelia Earhart enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate at 8,000 feet during her solo flight from Hawaii to Oakland, California.

M&M’s brand chocolate candies are included in the first space shuttle mission, and every subsequent flight. They are included in NASA’s space food system and are featured on the International Space Station menu.